


You'll Understand what Happiness Is

by BlackWolfHeartnet



Category: Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - T. S. Eliot
Genre: M/M, Mr. Mistoffelees is Quaxo (Cats), Munkustrap & Rum Tum Tugger are Siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:35:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24600928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackWolfHeartnet/pseuds/BlackWolfHeartnet
Summary: When Mistofelees saved Tugger from a pack of stray dogs, he didn't expect was to reveal his magic to the entire tribe of Jellicle Cats.
Relationships: Mr. Mistoffelees/Rum Tum Tugger (Cats)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 88





	You'll Understand what Happiness Is

**Author's Note:**

> I found my new favourite thing. 1998 Cats. Oh boy.
> 
> I noticed in CATS the Musical that Mr. Mistofelees doesn't wear a collar, so it gave my brain an idea. In this, he knows how to control his powers and can use them to fight if need be. Mr. Mistofelees is also Quaxo.
> 
> In this, Quaxo was a young stray Tom cat who was known to attack any dog that tried to hurt him or his family but one day disappeared. The name is now used to tell little kittens that they will be safe because Quaxo will always keep an eye on them.
> 
> Mistakes are mine

Rum Tum Tugger was relaxed against an old couch that was placed just outside of the junkyard, he found that it was the perfect place to be if he wanted to soak up some of the sun's rays.

"Tugger!" One of the kittens yelled out, the Maine Coon's head shot up at the cry. Etcetera and Electra were running with a pack of large dogs snapping at their heels. Tugger rose from his place on the old couch as the kittens ran under it. 

"Go get the others," Tugger said as the two kittens took off again.

"What," The lead dog said. "You think you can fight us alone?" Tugger raised a brow, hoping that his brother would appear quickly.

"Well," Tugger turned to the new voice to find the cat he hated most relaxed against a tree. "He's not alone, is he?" The Maine Coon groaned, what was the Tux cat doing here?

"Mistofelees, leave. There's no way you can help. You're just some house cat." Tugger hissed.

"Right. Just some house cat." The mysterious Tux just shrugged before allowing himself to sit down on the tree branch.

"Look boys, dinner and dessert." The lead dog said. Tugger watched as one of the dogs leapt, he braced himself. Only nothing came. Cracking an eye open, he found the dog on the ground.

"Are you sure you don't need help?" Mistofelees' voice came from behind him. "Because it really looks like you do."

"How?" Tugger was stunned.

"Don't worry about it." Tugger watched from the corner of his eye as the lead dog lunged at them only for Mistofelees to smirk. There was a whoosh and Tugger found himself on the tree branch that the Tux cat had previously occupied.

"Tug!" The Maine Coon glanced down to find Munkustrap and Alonzo at the base, where was the other cat? "Are you okay?" Tugger leapt and silently landed on the ground.

"I thought there were dogs around here," Alonzo said and Tugger's head shot up. The pack of strays and Mistofelees were gone.

"There were, the kittens were being chased...Mistofelees was just here, what?"

"Misto was here? That's impossible, we ran past him on the way here. He was sunning in his Human's window."

"Munk, I think your brother hit his head." The tabby nodded at his partner.

"I'm thinking you're right." Munkustrap wrapped an arm around his brother's shoulder. "Let's get back to the junkyard."

Rum Tum Tugger found that he couldn't sleep, not when he wasn't sure what had even happened in the clearing just outside of the junkyard. It had been a full week, a week and he still had no answers. He had spotted the Tuxedo cat in the window, or around the junkyard but any time he tried to strike up a conversation with him a white Queen would call for Mistofelees. The large tom had enough.

"Munk," Tugger started as he entered his brother's den. "I have a question."

"What do you want Tugger?"

"What do you know about Mistofelees?"

"You're still on this? Misto wasn't there."

"See, you're wrong. He was there but that's not why I'm here." Tugger said.

"Why are you here?" Demeter's voice came from somewhere behind Munkustrap.

"Because I want to know more about the cat."

"Why don't you just ask him?" Munkustrap said and Tugger groaned.

"You think that I haven't tried? Every time I try to get close enough to talk to him, the white Queen steals him away. Are they mates?" Tugger raised a brow as Demeter started laughing. "What?"

"The white Queen is named Victoria. They are littermates." Munkustrap said and Tugger didn't bother hiding his relief.

"And to answer your question, we don't know much about our mysterious friend. He's shy, he stumbled into the junkyard several years ago, before Victoria was thrown out by her first humans." Tugger shuttered at the memory of finding Victoria in the bag.

"Honestly, Tugger. If you want to know more about the cat, ask him yourself." Demeter said and the Maine Coon sighed but nodded before disappearing back into the junkyard.

"That's so much easier said than done," Tugger grumbled to himself.

"Everything okay?" The white Queen, Victoria asked. 

"Just fine." Tugger turned to walk away until... "You're Mistofelees' sister." The queen nodded.

"Yes."

"Where is your brother? I've been trying to track him down for a week."

"Knowing my brother, he's probably at his den right now."

Den? Tugger was so sure that the Tux cat was a house cat.

"Doesn't he live with you and your humans?"

"Misto, willingly live with humans? Have you been in the catnip?"

"No, I just see him in the window time from time."

"That's my human's home. She has a soft spot for strays. He tends to pop in to be around me. But Misto has a den, he lives outside of the junkyard."

"Outside? Isn't that dangerous?" Tugger asked and watched as a dark look came over the pale Queen.

"It seems to me that you already know that it really isn't that dangerous for Misto." Victoria's voice was low. "Is that why you want my brother?"

"I just want to know what happened."

"Victoria!" Both heads turned to face the cat in question.

"Misto," Victoria started. "What's wrong?"

"They're back." The Queen nodded as the Tux-Tom disappeared from Tugger's view.

"Some say that Misto is the original conjuring cat, others call his magical. But Misto is Misto. You may know him as another." Tugger turned to Victoria, questioning her. "Quaxo." The Queen chased after the cat.

_"Munk, can you tell me a story?" A young kit asked. "The one about Quaxo?" Rum Tum Tugger rolled his eyes, there was no such thing as Quaxo. He was just a story made up to make young kits feel safe when adventuring._

_"For sure," Munkustrap smiled and Tugger rolled his eyes again. "Quaxo is a tuxedo Tom. He's said to roam the streets of London, looking for kits in trouble. The dogs are scared of him. When Tugger and I were kits, we ran into him." Tugger sighed, every time Munkustrap told the story, he brought up being saved by the cat. Tugger didn't remember it but the kits loved it._

_"We were_ _running around and before we knew it, we had gotten lost. A group of dogs found us." Some of the kittens screamed. "We thought we were going to die there but out of nowhere, this black and white Tom appeared, like magic. He stood in front of us, braced for an attack. He fought hard, but soon the dogs turned away and ran with their tails tucked." The kits cheered. "With a dramatic bow, he disappeared into thin air."_

_"Now you listen kits," Munkustrap's voice was dark. "You stay safe and in the junkyard, but if you ever get lost, Quaxo will save you." Tugger hated when Munkustrap said that, there was no real proof that the kits would be safe. And yet no kit has died outside the yard... Tugger turned away, slinking off._

Tugger's eyes widened, taking off after Victoria. He found her outside of the junkyard, in the same clearing from last time. 

"What's happening?" He asked the Queen.

"You're not wrong about last time, there were dogs here and so was Misto. He threw you to that tree branch and vanished with the dogs. Apparently, the dogs aren't too happy." Victoria said, her tail twitching. Tugger turned towards the cat in front of him. 

The Tux stood straight, his hands were sparking.

"What?"

"I told you, my brother has magic."

"Presto," Mistofelees muttered and raised a hand. One of the dogs yelped as lightning shocked him.

"He's not a house cat," Tugger said to himself.

"Nope but he does his best to give that illusion."

"Why?"

"Because other humans see him and assume that he belongs to someone. They tend to leave him alone." Tugger knew that there was a story there.

"Misto! Behind you!" Victoria shouted and Tugger watched as the Tux spun around with all the grace of a dancer. A paw shot out and grasped the attacking dog, pinning the canine to the ground.

"Enough." Mistofelees' voice commanded. Tugger had never heard the Tux's voice so demanding. The dog whimpered but seemed to agree. They all watched as the canines tucked tails and ran off.

"They shouldn't be back," Mistofelees said, Tugger watched as the Tom's paws shook.

"Are you okay?" The Maine Coon asked.

"Fine, fine. Just worn out." The Tux leaned heavily on his sister. Tugger followed the siblings to Mistofelees' den, he watched as the Tux cat crawled into the old desk drawer and curled into himself.

"He'll probably be asleep for a while," Victoria said. "Using magic tires him out." Tugger nodded.

"So, the Jellicle Ball is coming up..." Tugger started.

"Yep, Plato and I are going together." The Maine Coon nodded.

"Is your brother going with anyone?"

"Probably not. He doesn't like being close to others." Victoria said and Tugger sighed. "But for some reason, he likes you."

"How can you even tell?" Tugger asked.

"Because he revealed himself to you. The first time in the clearing, he doesn't do that. Not when it's someone that's in the same tribe."

"That's why he appeared to Munk and I all those years ago," Tugger said and Victoria nodded. "He doesn't want other cats to know."

"From what little he's told me, the last time he was in a tribe, they shunned him when he saved a kit from a stray dog."

"For his magic," Tugger said and the Queen nodded.

-~-

Several months had gone by since Rum Tum Tugger's original meeting with the aloof Mistofelees and here he was, at the Jellicle Ball. Tugger watched him dance from the side, keeping out of the way of the other dancing cats. He watched as the mysterious cat seemed to be in his own mind, unaware of everything around him.

Taking his chance when Misto's head was bowed, Tugger linked around the dancing cats and came to a stop in front of a bowed Tuxedo cat. Mistofelees looked up at him with surprise in his eyes. Tugger knew that he wanted the magical cat as his mate.

Mistofelees raised a brow but turned away and kept on dancing, swaying his hips around.

As the cats enjoyed their Ball, evil laughter shook the junkyard making the cats stop. Tugger tried to keep an eye on his brother and Misto but both seemed to vanish from his sight. 

"Old Deuteronomy is gone!" Bombalurina shouted and Tugger felt his blood freeze. Munkustrap grasped his shoulder as Bombalurina and Demeter started singing about Macavity.

"What do we do Munk?"

"I'm not sure."

Mistofelees! Tugger stood up and ran to Victoria.

"Where's your brother?" The white Queen nodded to the top of the stack of tires and the Maine Coon nodded before climbing up the rubber. "Mistofelees." He found the Tuxedo Tom at the top with his face hidden in his hands.

"Tugger?" The magical cat turned to face the larger Tom.

"Misto, I need your help."

"Tugger, I can't bring Old Deuteronomy back. I'm not strong enough." Mistofelees said.

"But," Tugger sat down next to him, nuzzling the black fur. "you are strong enough. You know how I know that?" The Tux cat shook his head.

"I was there for the fight with the stray dogs, both of them. I know that you are strong enough, I've seen it myself."

"But what if I fail?"

"You won't."

"But-"

"Misto, you won't fail. You're strong and I know just the way to hype you up."

"You do?"

"Of course." Tugger disappeared and Mistofelees looked down to find Tugger relaxed on a lower pile of junk. Mistofelees could feel his magic sparking against his paws, it needed to be released. Especially if he was about to try to teleport someone from somewhere that had been captured by another magical cat. He sighed as he prepared himself for being in the spotlight. 

"We need to find Old Deuteronomy."

_"You ought to ask magical Mr. Mistofelees, the original conjuring cat."_


End file.
